


Roll With It

by imdeletingonedaylol



Category: Minecraft (Video Game), Video Blogging RPF
Genre: Also... Not A Happy Ending Necessarily, In Which Skeppy Is Regrettably In Love With His Best Friend, M/M, One Shot, Pining, This Is About Their Characters On The DSMP Not Them IRL
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-23
Updated: 2020-12-23
Packaged: 2021-03-10 17:35:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,250
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28250997
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/imdeletingonedaylol/pseuds/imdeletingonedaylol
Summary: Fellas is it gay to get on your friend's nerves because seeing them get all worked up makes your heart race? Be honest
Relationships: Zak Ahmed & Darryl Noveschosch, Zak Ahmed/Darryl Noveschosch, skephalo - Relationship
Comments: 6
Kudos: 127





	Roll With It

**Author's Note:**

> This is practice for a longer fic that I've been planning for a while (not sure when I'll start publishing that). I haven't written in years so I'm pretty rusty. I figured that there was no reason to abandon this on my computer to collect dust so I'm publishing it here. Also I'm still learning how to use this site so bear with me!

It was the perfect night for  enderman hunting, that’s why they ventured out in the first place. With the clearness of the sky and the expansive, flat plains before them, Bad and  Skeppy were primed for a productive night. Well... at least until he got too cocky.

It was a simple mistake; showing off turned to bragging, bragging turned to arguing, arguing distracted from the goal at hand. It all happened so quick,  Skeppy struggled to recall the events as he stared at the sky above.

***

“You  _ always  _ do this! You know it worries me and you do it on purpose!” Bad yelled, hands cupped around his mouth, legs running as quick as they could.

His figure was shrinking in the distance with every step  Skeppy took. He had too much of a lead to worry about him ever catching up. Despite the aching in his oxygen starved lungs,  Skeppy couldn’t help but smile. Bad was right, he  _ did  _ do it on purpose, and who could blame him? How could he resist when he always got a reaction like that? A little flaunting, a little bravado, and Bad would be a wreck of unbridled laughter and lowered inhibitions. With them all alone on their journey, it would have been criminal for Skeppy to deny the urge to drive him wild.

Of course, there was always the chance that he’d push him too far and that entrapping wonderment would turn to concern- frustration even, and tonight? Frustration didn’t even begin to cover it. Exasperation, more like it, but Skeppy hadn’t cared. He swung around, still edging backwards, not about to give Bad the slightest hope of closing the distance between them. Cupping his hands around his own mouth, he yelled back to him.

“I’m fine, see!”

He waved his arms above his head, reveling in the satisfaction of it all.

“Fine!”

He could barely make out the expression on Bad’s face- the whole thing contorted with worry. He saw his mouth hanging open, his chest heaving with every step forward, and almost felt guilty. Almost.

_ He’d give up if he really couldn’t take it,  _ he decided and turned back around.

He hadn’t known how long they’d been running, surely not long, but it was starting to overwhelm him. The brisk air bit at his fingertips, the speed of his pace sent the drawstring of his hoodie whipping around, smacking his face more than he would have liked. He found himself grateful that he had abandoned his armor at their makeshift camp. It would have been hell having to haul that around.

_ That’s probably why he’s struggling like that... _

Another pang of guilt.  _ Real _ guilt this time.

Skeppy slowed to a stop and turned around to see Bad, nearly invisible in the distance, bent over with his hands on his knees. Just a moment to let him breath wouldn’t do any harm.

…

That was it. The armor. That was the breaking point back at camp. By now,  Skeppy would have expected to understand what makes Bad tick enough to know what would push him over the edge, but no. It was just too hard sometimes to give up the act. When he’d brag about his skills, Bad would get defensive. It was just playful banter, and  Skeppy could see in his friend’s face how he enjoyed it. He didn’t get it, but he didn’t care to. Something about confidence always excited Bad. It made him feel... something.  Skeppy could feel it too. He could never put a name to it, but God, was it addictive. That special tightness in his chest when his words made Bad’s voice shake. The way his embarrassed fidgeting- the proof of just how much  Skeppy could excite him, stroked his ego. It was enough to make him desperate for anything to prolong the feeling. Enough to push Bad’s limits too far, evidently.

As Bad caught his breath and began to trek forward,  Skeppy’s mind eased. He decided that, sure, having his undivided attention was nice, but saying he was “practically an  enderman killing god” and “could kill a hundred of them with nothing but a stick”, then stripping off his armor, dropping everything but a stick, and running off to wage war, wasn’t the right way to keep that attention.

... _ That sounds worse in hindsight. _

He was sure they’d laugh at it when all was said and done. Well, as long as that truly  _ was  _ the reason why Bad had been driven to such extreme lengths. It could have been when he started bragging himself, positing that his kill-count would dwarf  Skeppy’s even on an off day.  Skeppy recalled saying some harsh things in response, more than a fair share of insults. That could have angered him, but no, it really must have been the armor. Bad was no stranger to friendly bickering. He had said far more hurtful things in the past while playing that game anyway. Still, Skeppy debated apologizing for it all, just to be sure.

The first step to that, he decided, would be meeting Bad halfway instead of making him trudge all the way to him. He stepped forward, speeding up to a jogging pace, and winced. He hadn’t noticed that stinging in his legs before. Maybe it was the heat of the moment, the surge of adrenaline, but the soreness hadn’t sunk in until just then. Bad waved to him, calling out his name, and  Skeppy pushed on, ignoring the pain.

He slowed to a stop as they closed in on each other. Bad reached out to him, grabbing him by the shoulders and giving him a shake.

“Don’t  _ ever  _ do that again,” he said, too weak to yell.

He dropped his hands from his shoulders.

“Bad, hey,”  Skeppy lifted one of his own hands to return the touch. He underestimated just how heavy his limbs felt in his exhaustion. It stopped short, resting tentatively on Bad’s bicep.

“I- I um,”

_ Oh _

A look of surprise washed over Bad’s face. Surprise with a dash of excitement. As quickly as it appeared, it was gone, but  Skeppy noticed. With just that, the feeling returned. There was a fluttering in his stomach that trickled down and made his knees  weak . A desire to hold tighter, get closer, to be held in return. He chalked the weakness up to the running and denied all else.

_ Just adrenaline  _ he told himself.  _ Just not thinking straight. _

He cleared his throat, edging his hand off.

“Um... I’m sorry, Bad. I guess I took it too far this time,”

Bad said nothing.  Skeppy could almost see the gears turning in his head as he searched for the right words. A moment or two of thinking seemed to yield no results. Nothing Bad thought was right, at least. After nearly a minute of trying to find what to say, he groaned and crossed his arms.

“Fine,” he said. “I’m just glad you’re ok,”

Skeppy relaxed his shoulders, letting a bit of tension out.

“-but I mean it. Please don’t do something like that again, you had me scared,”

“I won’t, I promise,”

Skeppy wanted to hug him then. If Bad wasn’t so averse to that, he would have just gone for it. He might have gone for it regardless if it were any other day, if there were any other mood, but not now. 

They spent most of the walk back to camp in silence, save for the first few minutes.  Skeppy apologized for everything from that night, just to play things safe and make sure Bad wouldn’t be going to be angry with him. Bad, of course, accepted it all. He hadn’t expected the night to be peaceful by any means and hadn’t cared about most of its events, but the sentiment didn’t go unappreciated.

It wasn’t until they made it back to camp, their lanterns thankfully still lit, that they had a moment to rest. Bad shed his armor, packing it neatly into a chest.  Skeppy followed suit, adding everything he left behind to his own and trying to stretch the aches away. There was at least an hour of moonlight left before the sun would rise. Their beds were prepared, their bodies tired, and yet...

They shared a glance. It’s not like they could destroy their sleep  schedule more.

***

That was it. All that mattered, at least. The finer details of what transpired at camp evaded him.

“It’s so pretty, isn’t it?” Bad said, interrupting his thoughts.

Skeppy shifted in the grass, positioning himself closer by a fraction of an inch. He turned his head just enough to catch a glimpse of his face without being noticed.

It really was the perfect night for  enderman hunting, even more so for Bad. There was some genius in his suggestion to head out at that late hour; with his skin matching the shade of midnight, stealth was no challenge. Not to mention how when he had set his mind on an enemy, he was something to fear. All jokes aside, Skeppy would be the first to admit that, even before Bad himself would be willing to acknowledge it. He wouldn’t want to sour that innocent reputation, after all, and Skeppy had more than enough reason to laude his accomplishments.

Looking at him now, however, as he stared up at the stars, nobody would ever guess that. His mouth was ajar with amazement, the corners upturned, his fangs poking out from under his lips. His horns, normally so intimidating, were hidden under his mussed hair. His defenses were lowered for the first time in hours. The only thing that could have made him even more defenseless was that dark crimson, that blush that was barely visible below the darkness of his skin.  Skeppy longed for it in its absence. His mind couldn’t help but wander into a fantasy. One where he gave some simple compliment, just skirting on the edge of flirting, and it returned. He was lost in it. Desperate like always. There was no point in imagining how it felt to be Bad in that position, with that delightful warmth across his face. Not when  Skeppy could feel it spreading across his own, pulling him from the visions in his head.

Maybe he was wrong to assume Bad was helpless to his words. Maybe it was  _ Bad  _ who had  _ him _ wrapped around his finger. Maybe there was some truth hidden in his jokes, a secret tenderness in his heart that he could only share under the guise of jest. The very thought tantalized  Skeppy . Did he cast some spell over him? For as long as it lasted, he knew he’d be a willing victim. 

Bad turned his head, catching him in the act, making his heart skip a beat. Those bright eyes looked deep within him,  Skeppy knew it. Deep enough to know exactly what ran through his head during moments like these. That’s what he told himself. There needed to be some explanation for the lengths Bad was willing to go to just to make sure he was safe, happy, loved even, despite his painfully obvious... 

...

_ Crush _

That’s it.  _ That’s it.  _ But that’s so much to unpack. So much to carry. He could push it down inside himself, repressing it until he nearly forgot. They would continue smothering each other with love. Some comment would twist  Skeppy’s mind, lingering there. In a month’s time the realization would sink in once more, and the cycle would start again. It was a painful cycle, but one he didn’t mind continuing. Anything to not risk what they already had. They were soulmates- Bad said that so many times before. That was worth a little white lie.

Bad’s eyes did more than read his soul. They dilated at the sight of him. Their glow rivaled the moon above.  Skeppy forgot why they set out to these plains in the first place, all he knew was the man before him. The only one who could break him like this. A giggle escaped his lips, trying to release the nervous energy that flooded his system.

Bad smiled, still begging the question.

_ “It’s so pretty, isn’t it?” _

If  Skeppy squinted, he could make out a tinge of red on his cheeks.

“Beautiful,” he whispered.

He staved off the tiredness until the sun reared its face, listening to Bad monologue about the stars and their names the whole while. They watched as the sun began to rise, painting the sky red, beginning to shift.  Skeppy hadn’t noticed the silence until long after it arrived. He looked  to Bad, who had finally fallen asleep somewhere during his explanation of constellations, laying limp on his side. His arms were curled up in front of him, a space between them where someone else would lay  someday .

Skeppy thought of falling asleep then, of dreaming about filling that role. He shook the idea from his mind with disappointment. How low, he thought, to hope for that.

He only looked. Only thought. Never acted. The painting in the sky shifted with every minute, and upon seeing the way the morning light touched Bad’s skin, he fell in love with the shade between the pink and orange of the sunrise.

It was in his nature to just take what came his way and roll with it, no matter how inconvenient. He’d tell his friend all about the colors above them when he woke, but for now he would lay with eyes open, fighting sleep until his imagination gave him peace. 

**Author's Note:**

> Ayyyyy it's one of those fics where the title doesn't make sense until it's said near the end!  
> (In all seriousness, thank you for reading!)


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